I got the bus to school alone the next day. Tammie had sent me a text that morning saying she was getting a lift with Joey instead. Apparently, that lift wasn't extended to me. That didn't feel great. I was feeling a little better for my chat with Gran the day before. She had even told me to give Tammie a chance to see what was unfolding for her and Joey. It wasn't easy for me to do that if it meant I would be alone all the time.
I huddled into the corner of the seat, feeling lonelier than ever. Now that my life was opening up in some ways, other parts of it were slipping away. If I was honest, I resented the way Tammie was ditching me in her attempt to "make progress" with Joey. Who does that? Ditches their friend for a boy? It made me wonder if she had only ever been my friend to get close to him. I tried to lecture myself out of the melancholy but little sneaking suspicions kept haunting me.
I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't even notice Nathan and Amelia sit down. Nathan had to sit next to me and nudge me to get my attention.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, sorry, I'm fine, just in a world of my own here." I sat up straight and tried to pay attention to them both.
"Where's Tammie?" said Amelia as she rummaged through her school bag for something.
"She got a lift with Joey this morning."
She stopped what she was doing to stare at me. "Is that how it sounds?"
I shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't mind."
Amelia peered at me suspiciously.
"Really, I don't care."
"Well, I wouldn't like it," she decided.
"Her loss," said Nathan.
I wanted them to leave it alone so did my best to change the subject.
"So. How are my doggy mates today?"
"Pining for you," teased Nathan.
"I'll bet, they've experienced the greatness of me and now they're stuck with you. It must be so disappointing for them."
"Cheeky."
I grinned at him but then something seemed to catch in my throat. I lost myself in his eyes and all I could think about was what it would be like to kiss him right there and then.
"Perdita?" he said quizzically.
"Sorry, spaced out there," I said, shaking my head in confusion. The last thing on my mind had been how much I liked him and here I was getting all gooey eyed in front of him. I had to get my act together before I made a complete fool of myself. The weekend before had made me too used to his company. I needed to snap out of it.
Throughout the journey to school I noticed that both Amelia and Nathan seemed much more relaxed without Tammie around. I always knew Tammie could be brash but I hadn't realised that they were uncomfortable around her because of it. At school, she breezed past me without even saying hello that morning. She sat next to Joey at the top of the room in double history for the first time ever. I didn't understand what was going on. We hadn't even had a fight.
I spent the whole time in history worrying why Tammie was acting so differently towards me. My stomach clenched with the tension coiling up inside of me. I felt sick at the thoughts of my best friend ignoring me without me even knowing why. As soon as we had a class without Joey, she sat next to me as if nothing had happened, baffling me. She wouldn't stop talking about Joey, however. I was too much of a wuss to confront her about her behaviour. I was more than a little sick of her by lunch time.
